Scars
by Ichigo2491
Summary: As she moved closer to him, she noticed something that in their earlier interactions had escaped her… Sess/Older Rin


**Ok, ok… I know I promised myself that I wouldn't post anything new until The Guardian is finished… but I can't help it! I just read the latest manga chapter and I'm so happy that Rin didn't die forever! So just a sweet little one-shot about Sesshomaru and Rin-chan! (Rated for implied s-e-x.) **

**Scars **

**By Ichigo2491 **

**Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own this manga, so please don't sue. **

It was very dark, very still, the time of night that can be called either very late or very early. But the time didn't matter to either Sesshomaru or Rin. They had only been married at twilight, and were thoroughly unaware of anything but each other.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Rin murmured, "are you as happy as I am?" She looked up at his face, the handsome features of which lacked their usual composed expression. He seemed, actually, rather disconcerted. She herself was rather shocked… experiencing intimacy with a dog-demon had been beyond anything she could ever have imagined.

"Happy?" Sesshomaru cocked his head in an almost quizzical manner. "That is not an adjective I would normally associate with myself… however… considering the circumstances, I suppose I must answer yes." He dropped his eyes, his bangs covering most of his face and hiding his expression.

Rin sighed heavily, contented with the answer and knowing that was as effusive as Sesshomaru would ever get. A smile curved her lips upward as she snuggled against the back of her husband, who in his embarrassment had turned in the opposite direction and lain flat on his side so as to avoid meeting her eyes.

As she moved closer to him, she noticed something that in their earlier interactions had escaped her…

"My lord," Rin's soft voice brushed lightly as silk over Sesshomaru's ears, "what… happened here?" He tried not to flinch as she placed her fingertips along the four diagonal lines marring his back. He couldn't see the wounds, positioned as they were, but he knew that they hadn't healed perfectly.

What could he say? There was no reason for her not to know. And yet telling her would be one of the most difficult things he would ever do. He had never spoken of the incident before… not to anyone. But he ought not to hide the truth from Rin.

"It looks to be an old wound," Rin interjected calmly into the silence. Sesshomaru sighed slightly with relief; it seemed she understood his need for gradual revelation of the truth.

"It is" he said heavily, trying to stop himself from wriggling away from her. The "touching" aspect of his newfound relationship with Rin, while totally enjoyable to the both of them, was something Sesshomaru was still not used to.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it," Rin replied, but Sesshomaru gritted his teeth and choked out the vague explanation.

"It was inflicted when I was a child, quite susceptible to injury. If the same wounds were to be inflicted on me today, they would soon vanish, but these do not."

"They look like fingernail… no, claw-marks. Who would have…?"

A bitter laugh tore from Sesshomaru's throat. "I think you already know the answer to that, Rin. She harmed you as a child, as well."

Rin gasped. Sesshomaru could feel her stiffen and pull back slightly. "Certainly she wouldn't have struck you so hard! Her own son…" Rin's voice was laced with shock, but he could tell she believed him. She believed him, when his own father had not.

"Do you honestly believe that she would hesitate to strike me? She was enraged. She flew into rages often. They finished as quickly as they came, and she never showed that side of herself to Father… almost never… so when he inquired as to the source of the marks on my back, and I told him the truth, he was inclined to think I was fabricating." Sesshomaru was amazed at the ease with which the words slipped out. He felt awkward after they were uttered, however.

In a rather choked-sounding voice, Rin asked, "Just how small were you, my lord?"

Lost in his own unpleasant memories, Sesshomaru answered automatically. "About the size you were, when we first met."

There was another long, painful silence. Finally Rin's timid voice broke it, with a question that no one else in the world would ever dare to ask Lord Sesshomaru: "Did you cry?"

_That _particular inquiry almost caused Sesshomaru to get up and leave. The last detail… the one he had not told even to his father… would have to be revealed. "No," he said at last, "the reason my mother struck me… was that I was… crying… in the first place." There was a painful break in the conversation as this sank in. "I never shed another tear after that day. I was too afraid of the consequences."

He felt sick, guilty for unleashing this old pain. Especially on Rin, who was now trembling with tears of her own. She had no need to fear the repercussions of crying. "I don't know what to say," she sobbed, trying to smother her tears on the pillow. "I feel so miserable for your sake, my lord…"

Equal parts disturbed and touched by Rin's empathy, Sesshomaru turned and resignedly gathered her weeping form into his embrace. "I would not have you so despondent," he told her as she buried her face in his hair and sniffled. "This display of compassion, though appreciated, is not doing _you _any good."

"I'm sorry, Lord Sesshomaru, but I just can't help it…" Rin tried to dry her eyes, but the tears kept leaking out. Sesshomaru knew what she was feeling, because looking back on the incident now that he was an adult had given him a new perspective. He too found it easy to feel sorry for the boy he had been. A boy with a father too busy to play with him… a mother who loved him one minute and hated him the next… and a nature that was fragile to begin with.

But it was all past now, none of it mattered. For all the love he needed was given by this tender flower of humanity he now held. "Hush now, Rin," he admonished gruffly, his chin on top of her head. "I think it is well past time for you to rest."

Rin soothed as Sesshomaru absently stroked her hair. "May I never strike one of my children," she said with a watery smile.

Sesshomaru shook his head thoughtfully. "No, I cannot see you acting in such a manner. You are too gentle to do such a thing, and there is no bitterness in you."

"I love you," Rin said, suddenly and rather startlingly. Sesshomaru's eyes widened somewhat. It was the first time she had mentioned those words. It made him feel strange inside… warm. It was not an altogether unpleasant feeling and he actually caught himself smiling at her.

"Go to sleep, Rin." But inside his head he answered her in kind.

**Yeah... hard to write at 3 am. But ok... reviews... I'm tired... **


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